Automatically-adjustable headlight for locomotives.



W. M. COOPER. AUTOMATIUALLY ADJUSTABLE HEADLIGHT FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

rum-r101! FILED APR. 20. 1908.

914,335, Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

I K -Qm I] X 8 I L mag I 5 /mdvziar .f v wa W ffz'izawla' UNTTE TATSATENT FTiCE.

WILLIAM M. COOPER, OF KENNEDALE, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO W. A.MCENTIRE, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS, AND ONE-THIRD TO .TNO. F. MCENTIRE, OFKENNEDALE,

TEXAS.

AUTOMATICALLY-ADJUSTABLE HEADLIGHT FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM M. COOPER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kennedale, in the county of Tarrant and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatically-Adjustable Headlights for Locomotives, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to head lights for locomotive engines and forelectric cars and similar purposes, and the object is to provide simpledevices which will automatically turn the search light of a locomotiveor car so that the light will be thrown on the track in turning curvesin the tracks or so that the search light will follow the track when theengine or car is turning a curve in the track.

Other objects and advantages will be fully explained in the followingdescription and the invention will be more particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of thisapplication and specification.

Figure l is a front elevation of the head light. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection, taken on the line acac of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionof the balancing tube. Fig. 4c is a detail view of one of the gages fordetermining the degrees of rotation of the headlight.

Similar characters of reference are used to indicate the same partsthroughout the several views.

A metal frame, composed of uprights 1 and cross-beams 2 attachedthereto, is provided for the oscillating frame 3 which carries theheadlight 1. The headlight is pivotally mounted on a bar or support 5 bya pivotal oint 6 which engages a socket 7. The headlight is held inplace at the top by a pivotal connection 8 which is carried by ascrew-threaded hand bolt 9 operating through the beam 2. The headlightis thus free to oscillate. The stationary frame for holding theheadlight frame may be bolted or secured to a locomotive in the usualplace for headlights or it may be bolted to the front end of a car. Theheadlight is caused to oscillate by some easily mobile agent, preferablyby quicksilver 10 which is placed in a curved tube 11. This tube iscurved, and when the quicksilver is laced in the tube the tube ishermetica y sealed by plugs 12. The quicksilver is very sensitiveSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 20, 1908.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Serial No. 428,157.

to motion and gravity and when one side of the headlight or car istilted, as when running on a curve in the track, the quicksilver willquickly run toward the lower side. This will cause the headlight to turnautomatically on its pivotal support and cause the light to follow thetrack. In order to operate efficiently it is necessary that thecurvature of the tube be the same as the; of a circle, and the tube mustbe less than a circle, as shown in Fig. 2, or the oscillation would betoo great, or rather the movement of the quicksilver in the tube wouldbe too great, that is, it would move too far around the curve in thetube. The centrifugal force developed when a locomotive is turning acurve will affect the mercury or quicksilver in the tube, more or less,but in practice the speed of the locomotive is not suflicient to preventthe device from o crating. The tube 11 may be attached to t e headlightcasing 3 in any suitable manner.

The head light may be limited in its turning or oscillating motion bybuffers 13 which are adjustably mounted in the cross-beams 2 by handscrews 14. The turning can thus be limited so that the oscillation willbe 30 or 45 or whatever limit may be desirable. If the head light turnstoo freely, as it might do when the engine locomotive or car wouldstrike slight irregularities in the track, friction brakes may be used.The friction brakes 15 are pivotally mounted in the support or bar 5.These brakes may be weighted more or less at the lower end 16.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is,

1. A head light for locomotives comprising a stationary frame, anoscillating frame pivotally mounted therein and carrying a light, and acrescent tube partly filled with a mobile element and carried by saidoscillating frame for causing the oscillating frame to turnautomatically.

2. A head light for locomotives comprising a stationary frame, anoscillating frame mounted therein and carrying a light, and a tubeconcentrically arranged about the pivot of and carried by saidoscillating frame and carrying means for causing said oscillating frameto turn automatically.

3. A head light for locomotives comprising a stationary frame, anoscillating frame mounted therein and carrying a light, and a curved,tube attached to saidv oscillating frame and carrying therein an agentfor causing the head light to turn automatically.

4. A head light for locomotives comprising a stationary frame, arotatable frame mounted therein and carrying alight, andacurved tubecarrying quicksilver hermetically sealed therein attached to saidrotatable frame.

5. A head light for locomotives and the like comprising a stationaryframe, a rotatableframe' mounted therein and carrying a; light,.meanscarried'by said rotatable frame for causing the same to turnautomatically and friction brakes carried by said stationary 15' framefor limiting the turning of said rotatable frame.

Intestimony whereof, I set my hand in the presence of two Witnesses,this thirty-first day of March, 1908.

his WILLIAM M. v COOPER.

' mark l/Vitnesses:

A. L. JACKSON, J. W. STITT.

